Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-04-20

officer and his jury arrived. And all
had not yet arrived when Mr.. Grafton
and two or three others arrived in
an excited state of mind and an
nounced that Fritz, the coachman,
had been captured, and had partial
ly confessed to the deed This news
was, rs you may imagine, shock
to me. l had not, in the first place
heard that the coachman was sus-
pected, although he had gone off so
hurriedly.
Mr.. Grafton had utterly refused to
point the finger of suspicion that
way during our talk in the morning,
but had held to the theory that the
girl had run off with some giddy
companions to lead less respectable
career. His statement that Fritz was
probably guilty so upset me that !
kept the proofs in my pocket and
gave the jury hint. The inquest
was adjourned until evening, and
was then resumed at the house, while
Fritz was present in charge of an
officer. He had been arrested in a
town thirty miles away, and atten-
tion had been first called to him by
his attempt to commit suicide by
drowning. When charged with the
murder he did not deny it. When
pressed to make a confession he ut
tered groan of despair and replied:
maybe did, for have been crazy
for four or five days. Let me 60 and
kill myself"
When searched a few shillings in
money and pocket knife and other
articles were found on his person.
He was free of wounds or bruises of
any sort, and no buttons were missed
from his garments. Before he was
called to face the jury began to
grope for the cause for his flight. 1t
could not be for the murder of the
girl, for he was innocent. 1t must
be on account of information receiv-
ed in that foreign letter. 1 went at
once to hisroom in the barn, which no
one had yet examined, and there l
found the envelope intact, but the
letter torn into fragments and flung
on the floor. I gathered up the
pieces and pasted them together, and
then had the clue to his actions. 1t
was letter from his mother in Ger
many, and it contained two pieces OF
important news. First, the mother,
who was widow, had been robbed
of every dollar BY investing in some
wildcat speculation on the advice Of
friends; and secondly, the girl whom
Fritz expected to return home and
marry in a year had been welded to
another.
Fritz was made half crazy by the
news, and his sole desire seemed to be
to get out of the neighborhood as fast
as possible. The coroner, Mr.. Graf
ton and myself held an interview
with him in private. The coroner
was an ignoramus, and he was only
too glad to surrender his official priv
ileges to Grafton, who eagerly accept
ted them. 1t was plain from the
start that he meant to catch poor
Fritz in the tolls.
Before Fritz was taken into the
room where the jury was sitting and
many spectators were assembled,
Grafton was permitted to interview
him in private for half an hour.
When questioned before the jury ne
said:
II may be the one. I had great
trouble come upon me, and l don't
know what J. did or where l went.
If it was me [ am sorry"
On the strength Of this the coroner's
Jury rendered = averdict that the girl
Jennie came to her death at the
hands of Fritz, and he was taken of
to iail and warrant sworn out. l
felt certain that Will Grafton had
killed the girl, and expected 10 ex-
hibit my proofs before the jury, but
when saw Grafton take the matter
into his own hands l realized that
he suspected and was prepared to de,
feat me. The son Will was present
during all the proceedings, and he
wore the identical coat from which
the button had been torn. Two OF
the servants informed me that he
had worn the garment right along
every day for six months. When L
saw the verdict of the coroner's jury
was foregone conclusion, and that
Fritz would be held, determined
to hold my hand until aproper time.
In my report of the case to my supe-
rior | simply mentioned that Fritz
had confessed and had been placed
under arrest.
On the second day after Fritz had
been sent to Jail Grafton secured an
interview with him on the excuse OF
providing him with a lawyer. In
that interview he secured the follow
ing written confession:
liam now quite sure that killed
the girl. 1 got news in letter which
made me lose my head, and l re-
member meeting Jennie in the woods
and thought she was to blame for all
INV troubles. don't want to live,
and shall plead guilty and ask them
to hang me-"
Three days later, when / guessed
the prisoners dependency had van
ished, and that the thought Of the
gallows would nerve him up to be-
gin a struggle for life, paid him a
visit. I had been doing some good
work IN his favor.
"Fritz," 1 said, "you read your
letter in the barn, didn't you?'
YES"
"You tore it up after reading"
Eyes; l remember" .
"You were about to 90 for one OF
the horses down in the pasture.
When you left the barn you took a
halter with you"
Il remember"
"You reached the lot, threw the
halter into fence corner, and then
started off by the old path leading
to the cider mill. When you passed
the school house you were barehead-
ed, and you had not been from home
twenty minutes"
II remember children shouting
after me-"
II have followed you down that
highway for twelve miles. Then
YOU turned east by red school house,
and l have traced you six miles
further. l can show by the servants
at the house that you were unoer
their eyes when the girl left and for
an hour after. Then your letter
came, and you ran to the barn to
read it. Now, then, how could you
have killed the girl?"
II don't know, but if l didn't who
did ?'